Our School

St Joseph's Primary School, Merewether was founded by the Sisters of St Joseph and has a long history of serving the Catholic Parish of St Joseph's now known as Newcastle Parish. Students are enrolled from a number of areas including The Junction, Merewether, Bar Beach, Newcastle, Cooks Hill and Hamilton South. Our motto 'Live the Truth' is our ideal in responding to Christ's challenge to live the Gospel. Our vision is to evangelise and to educate students to their full potential through a partnership of home, parish and school within a vital and positive atmosphere.

St Joseph's supports families in their efforts to educate their children to cope with the demands of a rapidly changing world and to cater for learning in the 21st Century. We aim to provide an enthusiastic and friendly environment for learning; one which is safe and aesthetically pleasing. The beauty of the natural environment has been a main focus in recent refurbishments at the school. The students participate in a variety of environmental programs. Our gardening group helps to foster our appreciation of beauty and it also contributes to making our school grounds attractive. The school plays an important role in the Parish community by educating our students in the history, culture, traditions and doctrine of the Catholic Church while fostering the development of their faith.

St Joseph's offers a challenging and flexible curriculum to maximise student outcomes. The challenge is to continue to build upon our academic strength and provide even greater learning outcomes for students at all levels. We provide a curriculum which is differentiated to cater for the individual needs of students and students with special needs are provided with individual education programs. Technology is integrated across the curriculum and is a focus of teaching and learning. Students are encouraged to participate in STEAM(Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) lessons as well as robotics and Minecraft.

St Joseph's provides an opportunity for pupils to excel in creative arts, including dance, visual arts, drama and music; this occurs before and after school and is also a vital part of the school curriculum. The school has a concert band and an award winning choir. Students are given the opportunity to develop sporting skills and participate in many sporting opportunities such as specialised gymnastic lessons, netball gala days and rugby, cricket and soccer clinics.

We cater for the development of each student's confidence, self esteem and personal development through programs such as "You Can Do It." We come together each day at morning assembly and we focus our thoughts on respect for self and others.

This is a foundation stone of our school. We aim to encourage positive interaction between teachers, students, parents and the parish and to provide high quality educational programs which will meet the individual spiritual, academic, social and physical needs of the students.

Students of St Joseph's Primary School, Merewether are encouraged to continue their Catholic education by attending St Francis Xavier College, Hamilton.